Iranian Cyber Army breaches Voice of America website

Trent Nouveau, 22nd February 2011

The Iranian Cyber Army (ICA) has managed to breach the digital security perimeter surrounding the Voice of America (VOA) website. The rather embarrassing infiltration - which occurred on Monday - allowed the shadowy group to replace the official VOA homepage with a banner displaying an Iranian flag alongside a AK-47 assault rifle.

The group also posted a statement demanding that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listen to "the voice of oppressed nations" and "stop interfering in Islamic countries."

As Bill Gertz of the Washington Times notes, little is known about the enigmatic Iranian Cyber Army, which claimed credit for unceremoniously hacking and defacing Twitter in December 2009.

However, a number of cyber security specialists now believe ICA operates under the auspices and with the full approval of the Iranian government.

"A review of the political messages published by the Cyber Army in recent months and official statements in its defense made by a government administrator of Iran's aviation industry prompt a closer examination of the group, which previous reports have claimed is composed of Russian hackers based outside of Iran," PBS' "Tehran Bureau" reported in February 2010.